Going With A Smile

Going With A Smile

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.” Psalm 27:8

People often think that making rounds at a nursing home would be depressing. But it’s not. The veterans of life who live there have insights and wisdom that seem to escape those of us who are still running on the hamster wheel. Their softly leathered faces glow with memories.

Dorothy was well into her eighties when she unpacked her few possessions in the twelve-by-twelve-foot room at the care center. As her family members prepared to say good-bye, they began to cry. It was one of the hardest things they’d ever had to do. But Dorothy uttered a conciliatory sigh. She didn’t cry. She had endured much worse.

Over the years, I had heard Dorothy’s stories. Her father had lost everything in the Great Depression, and she had learned to see everything she received as a blessing from heaven. She and her husband had raised four children together, and she had helped raise her grandchildren. Despite the various hardships she had seen, she had a smile that lit up the room.

“Dr. Anderson, will you stay and talk to me for a little while?” she asked one day.

“Certainly, Dorothy. What’s on your mind?”

“Today was my anniversary. If my husband were still living, it would be sixty-five years!”

I picked up her hand and held it in mine. Her papery skin was warm to the touch.

“You know, I’m ready to go. I have everything in order for when I die.”

I nodded. I knew she had a do-not-resuscitate order and a living will.

“After I’m gone, can you do one thing for me?”

“Anything,” I said.

“Please tell everyone how much I loved them.”

“Of course I will,” I said, gently patting her arm.

Two days later, I got an early-morning call from one of the nurses at the care center.

“I’m sorry to wake you, Dr. Anderson, but I’ve just been in to see Dorothy, and she wasn’t breathing. But when I saw her, she had a smile on her face.”

I love today’s verse, because it is such a beautiful reminder to me of Dorothy. She heard God’s voice, and she went to him with a smile on her face.

TODAY’S RX

Are you ready? Only God knows the day or the hour, but we want to be ready when he calls us home.

Father, Psalm 139 says that every day of my life is recorded in your book. What reassurance I have knowing you hear every beat of my heart and know every breath I take. Thank you for being in control.